According to an EU assessment released on Friday, three primary air pollutants were linked to about 400,000 fatalities in Europe in 2021; part of these deaths may have been prevented if pollution levels had been lowered to those advised by the World Health Organisation.

According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, which is particularly harmful to individuals who have heart problems, was responsible for 253,000 fatalities in the EU in 2021. 52,000 deaths were attributed to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution, which is particularly dangerous for diabetics, and 22,000 deaths were attributed to brief exposure to ozone (O3).

The European Environment Agency (EEA) reported in its recently released report for 2021 that there were 389,000 pollutant-related deaths in Europe, including a bigger set of European countries outside the EU.

“Air pollutant concentrations in 2021 remained well above the levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its air quality guidelines,” the EEA said in the report.

“Reducing air pollution to these guideline levels would prevent a significant number of attributable deaths in EU member states.”

Poland, Italy, and Germany recorded the largest number of PM2.5-related deaths in 2021, whereas northern European nations including Iceland, Scandinavia, and Estonia had the lowest rates.

The analysis found that the highest effects on fatalities in Turkey, Italy, and Germany were caused by NO2 and short-term O3 exposure.

(Adapted from USNews.com)

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